Appropriate and inappropriate legal protection of user interfacesand screen displays. I

Evaluates the arguments for and against the protection of user interfaces and screen displays, and possible legal mechanisms for their protection under existing or new laws. It is an expansion and restatement of parts of the written statement submitted to the Copyright Office on behalf of the IEEE Computer Society. The author discusses the difficulties and problems that protection of user interfaces and screen displays might cause. He defines user interfaces and discusses their intrinsic and habit aspects. He then examines code and noncode aspects of screen displays     

Appropriate and inappropriate legal protection of user interfacesand screen displays. V. How different forms of copyright protectioninteract with policy

For pt.IV see ibid., vol.9, no.6, p.84 (1989). The author considers which proposed regime of copyright protection for screen displays best serves the public policy requirements discussed earlier. Those requirements center on encouraging progress in the software field by providing incentives to innovators and investors while preserving the availability of utilitarian screen display techniques to other workers in the field. Three possibilities are evaluated: (1) conceiving the registered work as an integrated `computer program' work, which is not just the code of the computer program but also its displays, results, software specifications, and general look and feel; (2) considering the screen display as an integral part of the code of the computer program or as inherent in it (the US Copyright Office policy); or (3) recognizing a screen display as a distinct category of copyrightable work, such as a pictorial work or an audiovisual work, separate from the code of the computer program     

Eyes-free interaction with free-hand gestures and auditory menus

Auditory interfaces can overcome visual interfaces when a primary task, such as driving, competes for the attention of a user controlling a device, such as radio. In emerging interfaces enabled by camera tracking, auditory displays may also provide viable alternatives to visual displays. This paper presents a user study of interoperable auditory and visual menus, in which control gestures remain the same in the visual and the auditory domain. Tested control methods included a novel free-hand gesture interaction with camera-based tracking, and touch screen interaction with a tablet. The task of the participants was to select numbers from a visual or an auditory menu including a circular layout and a numeric keypad layout. Results show, that even with participant's full attention to the task, the performance and accuracy of the auditory interface are the same or even slightly better than the visual when controlled with free-hand gestures. The auditory menu was measured to be slower in touch screen interaction, but questionnaire revealed that over half of the participants felt that the circular auditory menu was faster than the visual menu. Furthermore, visual and auditory feedback in touch screen interaction with numeric layout was measured fastest, touch screen with circular menu second fastest, and the free-hand gesture interface was slowest. The results suggest that auditory menus can potentially provide a fast and desirable interface to control devices with free-hand gestures.     

Effects of menu structure and touch screen scrolling style on the variability of glance durations during in-vehicle visual search tasks

The effects of alternative navigation device display features on drivers' visual sampling efficiency while searching forpoints of interest were studied in two driving simulation experiments with 40 participants. Given that the number of display items was sufficient, display features that facilitate resumption of visual search following interruptions were expected to lead to more consistent in-vehicle glance durations. As predicted, compared with a grid-style menu, searching information in a list-style menu while driving led to smaller variance in durations of in-vehicle glances, in particular with nine item displays. Kinetic touch screen scrolling induced a greater number of very short in-vehicle glances than scrolling with arrow buttons. The touch screen functionality did not significantly diminish the negative effects of the grid-menu compared with physical controls with list-style menus. The findings suggest that resumability of self-paced, in-vehicle visual search tasks could be assessed with the measures of variance of in-vehicle glance duration distributions. Statement of Relevance: The reported research reveals display design factors affecting safety-relevant variability of in-vehicle glance durations and provides a theoretical framework for explaining the effects. The research can have a significant methodical value for driver distraction research and practical value for the design and testing of in-vehicle user interfaces.     

Effects of menu structure and touch screen scrolling style on the variability of glance durations during in-vehicle visual search tasks

The effects of alternative navigation device display features on drivers' visual sampling efficiency while searching forpoints of interest were studied in two driving simulation experiments with 40 participants. Given that the number of display items was sufficient, display features that facilitate resumption of visual search following interruptions were expected to lead to more consistent in-vehicle glance durations. As predicted, compared with a grid-style menu, searching information in a list-style menu while driving led to smaller variance in durations of in-vehicle glances, in particular with nine item displays. Kinetic touch screen scrolling induced a greater number of very short in-vehicle glances than scrolling with arrow buttons. The touch screen functionality did not significantly diminish the negative effects of the grid-menu compared with physical controls with list-style menus. The findings suggest that resumability of self-paced, in-vehicle visual search tasks could be assessed with the measures of variance of in-vehicle glance duration distributions.

Statement of Relevance: The reported research reveals display design factors affecting safety-relevant variability of in-vehicle glance durations and provides a theoretical framework for explaining the effects. The research can have a significant methodical value for driver distraction research and practical value for the design and testing of in-vehicle user interfaces.     

Using keyphrases as search result surrogates on small screen devices

This paper investigates user interpretation of search result displays on small screen devices. Such devices present interesting design challenges given their limited display capabilities, particularly in relation to screen size. Our aim is to provide users with succinct yet useful representations of search results that allow rapid and accurate decisions to be made about the utility of result documents, yet minimize user actions (such as scrolling), the use of device resources, and the volume of data to be downloaded. Our hypothesis is that keyphrases that are automatically extracted from documents can support this aim. We report on a user study that compared how accurately users categorized result documents on small screens when the document surrogates consisted of either keyphrases only, or document titles. We found no significant performance differences between the two conditions. In addition to these encouraging results, keyphrases have the benefit that they can be extracted and presented when no other document metadata can be identified.     

1D selection of 2D objects in head-worn displays

In current desktop user interfaces, selection is usually accomplished easily with a mouse or a similar two-dimensional locator. In wearable computing, however, controlling two dimensions simultaneously gets significantly harder: a change in one dimension results easily in an undesired change in the other dimension as well when the user is occupied with a parallel task – such as walking. We present a way to overcome this problem by applying one-dimensional selection for graphical user interfaces in head-worn displays. Our new interaction technique allows a wearable computer user to perform object selection tasks easily and accurately. The technique is based on a visible circle on the screen. The user controls the circle, altering its radius with a one-dimensional valuator. The midpoint of the circle is in the middle of the screen. The object currently on the perimeter of the circle is highlighted and can be selected. Our preliminary usability evaluation, applying our custom evaluation method designed especially for walking users, indicates that the proposed technique is usable also when walking.     

Improving web search on small screen devices

Small handheld devices—mobile phones, Pocket PCs etc.—are increasingly being used to access the web. Search engines are the most used web services and are an important factor of user support. Search engine providers have begun to offer their services on the small screen. This paper presents a detailed evaluation of the how easy to use such services are in these new contexts. An experiment was carried out to compare users' abilities to complete search tasks using a mobile phone-sized, handheld computer-sized and conventional, desktop interface to the full Google™ index. With all three interfaces, when users succeed in completing a task, they do so quickly (within 2–3 min) and using few interactions with the search engine. When they fail, though, they fail badly. The paper examines the causes of failures in small screen searching and proposes guidelines for improving these interfaces. In addition, we present and discuss novel interaction schemes that put these guidelines into practice.     

Appropriate and inappropriate legal protection of user interfacesand screen displays. 3. Copyright law, the courts, and the copyrightoffice

For pt.2 see ibid., vol.9, no.4, p.7-10, 92-4 (1989). The applicability of US copyright laws to computer programs is examined, and the enforcement of copyrights is discussed. Court decisions are cited showing that the copyright status of screen displays for computer programs remains confused. An important variable in predicting the scope of copyright protection, namely, the position that the US Copyright Office takes in the exercise of its registration function and in its rulemaking capacity, is examined     

Cursor orientation and computer screen positioning movements

Implicit directional cues in arrowhead cursors could influence positioning of a cursor on the screen of the computer. Performance during cursor placement may benefit from compatibilities between cursor orientation and direction of movement. Arrowheads could also elicit illusory processes that may affect judgments of (a) the distances on the screen or (b) the location of the point of the arrowhead. To address the impact of the cursor's orientation on its positioning, we had 12 participants move cursors (crosshairs, leftward, or rightward arrow) leftward or rightward to targets (near, far) on a computer screen. Movement amplitude was more important than cursor orientation for initiation of rightward movements, whereas cursor orientation affected the duration of leftward movements and movements to farther targets. Arrowhead orientation contributed to the greater overshooting of far targets. There was little evidence that compatibility of orientation and direction of movement assisted response initiation or execution, and there was little indication that arrowhead cursors led to illusory effects that influenced cursor placement. Arrowhead cursors can provide irrelevant stimulus dimensions that distract users. This work can be applied to the design of cursors in graphical user interfaces. The use of orientation-neutral cursors or cursors whose stimulus dimensions are more relevant is recommended.     

Eliciting Public Display Awareness and Engagement: An Experimental Study and Semantic Strategy

ABSTRACT

As displays move from the desktop and mobile world to situated urban and public spaces, these mixed use interfaces will continue to pose both opportunities and challenges for architects and product designers alike. In particular, the ability to visually communicate interface modality on a platform that supports both public and private interactions. To address this challenge starts with eliciting user attention and awareness with the goal of creating direct user engagement with the screen. Although other researchers have explored the topic of attention and public displays, our interdisciplinary team leveraged a far more fundamental product semantic strategy. Using the linguistic concept of ‘complementation’ we conducted a field study (n = 32) implementing both implicit and explicit screen based prompts. The results from the quantitative experiment show a foundational semantic approach to “coupled signals” that can be applied to a large range of design applications.     

Two-mode target selection: Considering target layouts in small touch screen devices

A variety of studies have been conducted to improve methods of selecting a tiny virtual target on small touch screen interfaces of handheld devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. These studies, however, focused on a specific selection method, and did not consider various layouts resulting from different target sizes and densities on the screen. This study proposes a Two-Mode Target Selection (TMTS) method that automatically detects the target layout and changes to an appropriate mode using the concept of an activation area. The usability of TMTS was compared experimentally to those of other methods. TMTS changed to the appropriate mode successfully for a given target layout and showed the shortest task completion time and the fewest touch inputs. TMTS was also rated by the users as the easiest to use and the most preferred. TMTS could significantly increase the ease, accuracy, and efficiency of target selection, and thus enhance user satisfaction when the users select targets on small touch screen devices.

Relevance to Industry

The results of this study can be used to develop fast and accurate target selection methods in handheld devices with touch screen interfaces especially when the users use their thumb to activate the desired target.     

Modes of presentation for on-line help: full screen, split screen and windowed formats

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the format used to display on-line help (full screen, split screen and windowed) on user performance and attitudes. Three prototypes of a programmer's editor were developed. The first prototype provided help in full screen format. The second prototype provided split screen help and the third windowed help. It was hypothesized that user performance would be best with windowed help, and that attitudes would be most positive toward windowed help. In addition it was believed that windowed help would fare best because it would allow users to see and work with about two-thirds of the product screen while the help was displayed. Forty-five application programmers participated. Each subject performed three editing tasks using one form of on-line help. No significant differences in performance or attitude were found between those who used full screen, split screen and windowed help. However, comments made by subjects during the assessment suggested that the nature of the help text itself may have affected the results. An examination of these comments indicated several ways in which the organization and writing style of the help text could be improved.     

Egocentric distance perception in large screen immersive displays

Many scientists have demonstrated that compared to the real world egocentric distances in head-mounted display virtual environments are underestimated. However, distance perception in large screen immersive displays has received less attention. We investigate egocentric distance perception in a virtual office room projected using a semi-spherical, a Max Planck Institute CyberMotion Simulator cabin and a flat large screen immersive display. The goal of our research is to systematically investigate distance perception in large screen immersive displays with commonly used technical specifications. We specifically investigate the role of distance to the target, stereoscopic projection and motion parallax on distance perception. We use verbal reports and blind walking as response measures for the real world experiment. Due to the limited space in the three large screen immersive displays we use only verbal reports as the response measure for the experiments in the virtual environment. Our results show an overall underestimation of distance perception in the large screen immersive displays, while verbal estimates of distances are nearly veridical in the real world. We find that even when providing motion parallax and stereoscopic depth cues to the observer in the flat large screen immersive display, participants estimate the distances to be smaller than intended. Although stereo cues in the flat large screen immersive display do increase distance estimates for the nearest distance, the impact of the stereoscopic depth cues is not enough to result in veridical distance perception. Further, we demonstrate that the distance to the target significantly influences the percent error of verbal estimates in both the real and virtual world. The impact of the distance to the target on the distance judgments is the same in the real world and in two of the used large screen displays, namely, the MPI CyberMotion Simulator cabin and the flat displays. However, in the semi-spherical display we observe a significantly different influence of distance to the target on verbal estimates of egocentric distances. Finally, we discuss potential reasons for our results. Based on the findings from our research we give general suggestions that could serve as methods for improving the LSIDs in terms of the accuracy of depth perception and suggest methods to compensate for the underestimation of verbal distance estimates in large screen immersive displays.     

The effect of screen complexity on user preference and performance

This article presents a two‐experiment series that strongly supports the hypothesis that user preference for interactive screens and performance using interactive screens is related to screen complexity. The relationship follows an inverted U‐shaped curve, with too little or too much complexity depressing preference and performance. The implication for interactive systems designers is that while a clear screen is a necessary condition for user satisfaction, it is not a sufficient one; the appropriate level of screen complexity must also be considered.     

Effects of amplitude modulation on vibrotactile flow displays on piezo-actuated thin touch screen

This paper investigates effects of different amplitude modulation methods of frequency-swept excitation patterns for creating vibrotactile flow displays on a spatiotemporally actuated thin touch screen. Four piezoelectric actuators (bimorph type) located at the midpoints of each side of a screen can be used to make eight directional (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) vibrotactile flows by spatiotemporally actuating two or more piezo-actuators. To determine which amplitude modulation method is the most effective in generating directional vibrotactile flows, an excitation pattern having sweeping frequencies in the range of 50 Hz to 250 Hz with four different time-varying amplitudes are investigated: 1) constant amplitude modulation, 2) linear amplitude modulation (linearly increasing and decreasing amplitude), 3) exponential amplitude modulation (exponentially increasing and decreasing amplitude), and 4) logarithmic amplitude modulation (logarithmically increasing and decreasing amplitude). A user study shows that the exponentially increasing and decreasing the amplitude pattern is the worst in terms of human perception (accuracy, validity, and refinement), while other amplitude modulation methods give similar results. Another user study shows that the eight directional vibrotactile flows can easily be distinguished on the users?? palms. As such, it is expected that these vibrotactile flows can be applied to the user interface design of a mobile device, for example, for identifying callers or giving directions to the elderly and the blind.     

Use of force plate instrumentation to assess kinetic variables during touch screen use

Touch screens are becoming ubiquitous technology, allowing for enhanced speed and convenience of user interfaces. To date, the majority of touch screen usability studies have focused on timing and accuracy of young, healthy individuals. This information alone may not be sufficient to improve accessibility and usability of touch screens. Kinetic data (e.g. force, impulse, and direction) may provide valuable information regarding human performance during touch screen use. Since kinetic information cannot be measured with a touch screen alone, touch screen-force plate instrumentation, software, and methodology were developed. Individuals with motor control disabilities (Cerebral Palsy and Multiple Sclerosis), as well as gender- and age-matched non-disabled participants, completed a pilot reciprocal tapping task to evaluate the validity of this new instrumentation to quantify touch characteristics. Results indicate that the instrumentation was able to successfully evaluate performance and kinetic characteristics. The kinetic information measured by the new instrumentation provides important insight into touch characteristics which may lead to improved usability and accessibility of touch screens.     

Introduction to building projection-based tiled display systems

This tutorial introduces the concepts and technologies needed to build projector-based display systems. Tiled displays offer scalability, high resolution, and large formats for various applications. Tiled displays are an emerging technology for constructing semi-immersive visualization environments capable of presenting high-resolution images from scientific simulation. The largest impact may well arise from using large-format tiled displays as one of possibly multiple displays in building information or active spaces that surround the user with diverse ways of interacting with data and multimedia information flows. These environments may prove the ultimate successor to the desktop metaphor for information technology work. Several fundamental technological problems must be addressed to make tiled displays practical. These include: the choice of screen materials and support structures; choice of projectors, projector supports, and optional fine positioners; techniques for integrating image tiles into a seamless whole; interface devices for interaction with applications; display generators and interfaces; and the display software environment     

Using Distributable User Interfaces in CSCL In-Situ Classrooms

Distributable user interfaces enable users to distribute user interface interaction objects (i.e. panels, buttons, input fields, checkboxes, etc.) across different displays using a set of distribution primitives to manipulate them in real time. This work presents how this kind of user interfaces facilitates the computer supported collaborative learning in modern classrooms. These classrooms provide teachers and students with display ecosystems consisting of stationary displays, such as smart projectors and smart TVs as well as mobile displays owned by teachers and students, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The distribution of user interface interaction objects enables teachers to modify the user interface interaction objects that are available to students in real time to control and promote the collaboration and participation among them during learning activities. We propose the development of this type of applications using an extension of the CAMELEON reference framework that supports the definition of UI distribution models. The Essay exercise is presented as a case of study where teachers control the collaboration among students by distributing user interface interaction objects.